News

We're just back from a 2 week trip to India and I'll get a post up about that soon.  It's taking some time to digest the trip, the country, and the work we did there.  It was an amazing experience.

But first part of the experience was keeping up with the news as an American abroad.  We stayed in very nice hotels that had access to literally hundreds of stations including a fair number of news stations.  They were from all over the world so a traveler in these hotels could get news from almost any region.  Most were Indian, as most in the USA are American, but there was also Australian, European, Indonesian, Russian and others.  In the three hotels where we stayed, the dominant American news station was CNN.  There was usually also CNBC for business and some miscellaneous channels we are familiar with like Discovery, National Geographic, MTV and so on.  As we had time in the room with the TV on, we initially thought we'd try and tune in CNN to see what was happening and get caught up.  It was a pretty interesting (and disappointing) experience to have CNN as your only news source for purely American information.  After a few days they were literally unwatchable.  I expect bias in opinion programs, but the level of bias and actual hate present on CNN was breathtaking.  After not too long each day we had to switch to the BBC.  At least over there you expect it.  And actually, they weren't too bad.  At least they tried to provide balance.  

The thing that we kept thinking is that people around the world are seeing the info put out by CNN as a window on our country.  And it isn't a pretty picture.  They are overwhelmingly biased in any presentation regarding the U.S. government, and especially President Trump.  Biased in that they hate him...with a passion.  If you are a citizen of another country and watch much of CNN, the picture you have of our country is one of almost a dystopian state.  A place where the government is corrupt, they oppress their people, and they promote class warfare.  It used to be that when one party was in power the other side was the loyal opposition and they worked hard to unseat the incumbents based on a difference in beliefs and philosophy.  But according to CNN, one side is good and the other side is bad.  Really bad.  And the way to oppose them is to hate them.  It is a depressing picture.s

I admit to not watching much of this crap at home, but I was pretty shocked at the level of vitriol on literally every segment of the programming day.  And they didn't even pretend.  Fox News gets a bad rap for being biased in the other direction, but the difference is that I don't think the Fox folks exude as much hate as CNN.  And at least Fox has a few token liberals and brings on representatives from the other side pretty regularly.  But I didn't see any of that at CNN.  

So when we returned I started watching various news shows to expand my knowledge of how they are serving us.  Because after all, that's what they should be doing.  And it's not a pretty picture.  Whether your conservative or liberal, you can find a news channel that will validate your views.  You can watch folks who will feed your likes and dislikes and pretty soon become a zealot for your beliefs.  And I think that's what has happened to a lot of people.  That is the only explanation I can think of for where we find ourselves.  

So here's what I've found on the various channels:

• CNN:  I've described them above.  After watching them since returning, it's no better here.  Their bias comes through loud and clear.  And their selectivity in presenting the news is distressing.  For example, today the United States of America and the Peoples Republic of China signed a historic trade deal.  It was the first such deal that those two countries have ever signed.  It was historic.  Not perfect and still a lot to get done in subsequent phases, but historic.  It was mentioned nowhere on CNN.  Nowhere.  Impeachment was the dominant story today, by far.  And there was no mention that I saw of fairness.  It was all about vilifying Trump.  
• Fox News:  They are conservative.  No doubt about it.  Many, many of their shows are opinion shows and you have to take them with a grain of salt.  But they do bring on reps from the other side.  And a few are straight news.  One that comes to mind is Brett Bair's afternoon news show.  I think it's pretty good.  And Chris Wallace's Sunday show is good.  And some are terribly biased and even hateful.  Hannity comes to mind.  But if you're watching Fox, be careful.  Pretty soon you'll start to believe everything they say.  But at least they don't say it with the hate that CNN brings.
• MSNBC:  They are liberal bastion and don't even pretend to be fair.  If you want the liberal line, listen to MSNBC
• Networks:  ABC, NBC and CBS are a shadow of their former selves.  They have their biases and are usually tend liberal.  I think the best is CBS.  Of the three, you'll get the straightest info from CBS.
• NPR:  Hit or miss.  Mostly liberal but they try and be balanced.  But in presenting either side, they mostly aren't hateful.  

I won't even cover all the websites for news because there are too many and I've discussed that before.  Find yourself one of those left-right charts and become informed before you find yourself nodding in agreement with some bullshit you read on a blog or a website.

So what to do?  I honestly don't know.  One alternative is to just tune it out.  Go about your day and conduct your business and focus on things you care about in your immediate environment.  There's a famous line from the old politician Tip O'Neil, "All politics are local".  So just care about what is going on in your city or village, and the rest be damned.  But in 2020 with all the information at our fingertips, that is pretty hard.  It's difficult to not be involved in the bigger world.  And dangerous.  What if Bernie Sanders were elected President because not enough patriots were paying attention.  Since he emerged on the national scene he is certainly the most dangerous politician I've ever seen.  He is an enemy to our way of life.  So I believe it's important to stay engaged.

No one has the time or inclination to switch between a number of news sources to get a balanced view.  And the way it's going, all of us who are attuned to current events and what is going on around us are going to continue to watch, read and hear what we want to validate our views and become more and more polarized.  The news organizations seem to not give a shit because they are making money.  And we are happy because we feel good about our views and are acquiring ammunition to engage in vitriolic arguments on social media with our enemies.  Enemies who used to be friends.  Friends we used to have who simply had different views. And I'm afraid there's no going back.